Plasterers Tools

Plasterers Tools – The Plasterers Hawk

One of the many plasterers tools, a hawk consists of a board of about 25 cm (9 inches) square together with a handle fixed centrally on the reverse.

The purpose of a hawk is to hold the prepared plaster ready for application. A plasterer would hold the hawk horizontally in his secondary hand whilst using a plastering trowel in his primary hand to apply the wet plaster to the working surface

Hawks are also used by brick layers or brick pointers to hold mortar in the same way.

The use of hawks, although originally a plasterers tools, is now becoming more popular among drywall tradesman who use them to hold their joint compound. Silverline manufacture good quality hawks, along with a full range of other plasterers equipment.

Plaster Bucket

One of the most simple yet fundamentally necessary plasterers tools is a simple bucket in which to mix the plaster, or the dry wall adhesive. A large flexible is best as these are easy to clean by bending the bucket to break off the dried on plaster.

Plasterers Tools – The Float

Another of the numerous plasterers tools, a float is usually manufactured out of polycarbonate and is normally used when rendering a wall. Plasterers trowels are sometimes referred to as floats, but strictly speaking a trowel is made from metal whilst a float is made from polycarbonate or another similar material.

Plasterers Brushes

Another plasterers tool, which is often used for renovating plaster, is a splash brush. As the name suggests this is used to splash the wall with water between the second and third stage of the plastering process, just in advance of the final smoothing. Most brushes used as plasterers tools are quite wide so that they hold sufficient water. Brushes may also be used to clean other equipment once the job in complete.

Mixing Paddle / Stick

A mixing paddle of mixing stick of around 2 ft in length can be used to mix the plaster ready for application in place of a powered mixer. A manual paddle would normally be used where only a limited amount of plaster is required, when doing home DIY for example. It is not recommended to use chipboard or MDF as a paddle as debris can break off into the plaster.

Plaster Mix

Not a plasterers tool as such, but choosing the right plaster mix is important. It is available in various brands and types gypsum-based plaster and cement-based plaster. Gypsum-based plaster is a porous plaster that is usually used indoors as it will crumble and deteriorate if it becomes wet. Gypsum-based plaster can be purchased in a variety of forms, but browning, bonding, and metal lathing plaster are the most common. Cement-based plaster is almost always applied outdoors because of its resistance to damp and wetness. Cement-based plaster has a very different consistency from gypsum-based plaster meaning that is will not deteriorate as easily. It should be noted that plaster mix has a short shelf life of between three to five months.

Good luck choosing the perfect plasterers tools for your next project!